Answer, An (1962)

[Music] the president of the united states [Music] admiral captain gentlemen i want to express on behalf of the members of the congress the ambassadors from many countries myself i think the people of the united states uh great appreciation to you both of you today your efforts on other days and nights spring and winter and in summer the united states navy helps secure the freedom of countries thousands of miles away ships which uh sail hundreds of miles from coast far off places preserve the freedom of those countries and therefore as a former member of the united states navy and now as president i want to express to you our heartfelt appreciation i hope you realize the contribution that you're making not only did the preservation of the peace of the preservation of the freedom of this country and the over 50 countries which are allied with us and others which while not allied benefit from our strength what you have shown us today the shifts the techniques and most of all your own skill and courage makes all of us return to capital with a good deal more confidence and hope [Music] a former navy lieutenant arrives at oceana virginia to visit the atlantic fleet only now he comes not as a naval officer but as the 35th president of the united states and commander-in-chief of the armed forces [Music] the president's party first visits headquarters of the supreme allied commander atlantic admiral robert l dennison here president kennedy meets officers of the nato nations who share in the security of the vital atlantic sea frontiers [Music] on this his first official visit to the fleet president kennedy is accompanied by the vice president lyndon johnson over the next 24 hours the presidential party members of congress and ambassadors and diplomatic guests from 56 nations will witness at sea and assure the operations of the men ships and planes of the navy [Music] nerve center of the atlantic nato command is operations control center here in the event of war would come the orders sending into action the sea going forces of 14 nations as one navy [Music] one such ship would be the thomas a edison newest of the polaris submarines in norfolk the edison awaits the president's arrival [Music] within weeks this submarine will join the polaris fleet already deployed on patrol armed with 16 polaris missiles she will add substantially to the free world's ability to deter war and prevent aggression while president kennedy scans the harbor through one of edison's periscopes vice president johnson arrives aboard the attack carrier forestall [Music] the cruiser northampton a flagship of the atlantic fleet mans the rail for the commander-in-chief [Music] in an emergency northampton could serve as the president's mobile command post at sea one of several nerve centers from which he and his staff could transmit command decisions [Music] third thing i would like to a briefing in the ready room it's good today if for some reason we had to divert to the beach there are plenty alternate fields along the coast that you can get into we're operating just south of cherry point here we have a master jet base here cherry point uh hunter air force base here at savannah has runways that can take the vigilante are there any questions from anyone pilots and air crewmen have an opportunity to be ambassadors themselves they visited many nations but seldom has there been the opportunity to reciprocate at sea the shelter that fell out the republic of mali university of western africa [Music] [Music] your great country united states it's my pleasure to meet you sir senator byrd i'm commander heath it's a pleasure to know you sir honor to have you board this is my bombadier lieutenant larry monroe pleased to meet you sir is this uh is this your first visit with us aboard the enterprise yeah very proud of the fact it's built in virginia i'm one of those that leaves an airplane carrier so of course i'm very glad to hear you say that breakfast a good chance to meet constituents [Music] hmm [Music] and now honors salutes and ceremonies by the fleet nowadays fleets are widely dispersed across thousands of miles of ocean this is a rare sight among ships saluting the president the largest in the world the enterprise [Music] small sleek destroyers [Music] guided missile destroyers frigates cruisers and the first nuclear-powered surface ship the uss long beach amphibious assault ships and their marines proud dedicated men proud ships an answer to the president's question [Music] piped aboard the big e [Music] so [Music] anti-submarine rockets are ready an s2f tracker is launched [Music] carrier helicopters also play an important role on the sub hunting team [Music] submarines such as the nuclear-powered thresher seek out their own kind in the depths of the sea [Music] a land-based p2v neptune starts the show uh [Music] teamwork skill and courage are essential ingredients in this the most exacting of naval arts for anti-submarine warfare today is advancing rapidly on all fronts with improved tactics and new equipment to find and destroy the elusive submarine [Music] typical of these weapons is asrock a sub-killing missile [Music] the submarine's traditional enemy is the destroyer [Music] [Music] these high-speed sub hunters remain one of the most effective challenges to submarines threatening our sea lines of communication [Music] two terrier surface-to-air missiles are fired at a drone [Music] [Music] enterprise and forestall now turn into the wind to launch aircraft each of these floating airfields has a sphere of influence many hundreds of miles in diameter spheres of influence which can be moved where needed when needed there are no fixed addresses in the fleet a demonstration of fleet air firepower by high performance jet aircraft the navy's newest and hottest the f4h phantom the a3j vigilante attack bomber of tomorrow within minutes the four acre flight deck is empty [Music] so new weapons new techniques new demands [Music] these planes are visible evidence of how carrier aircraft support directly amphibious forces over the beach or other combat troops farther inland [Music] what you have shown us today the shifts the techniques and most of all your own skill and courage makes all of us return to the capital with a good deal more confidence and hope very grateful to you my personal thanks to all of you [Music] camp lejeune north carolina here hard-hitting battle-ready units armed with the latest weapons are prepared to go into combat at any level of the wide spectrum of nuclear or limited warfare so nearby at onslow beach the president is joined by the shah of iran in the united states on a state visit now land the landing force now land the landing force [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] carrier aircraft are essential for close air support of amphibious landings the planes you see here are manned by marines [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] the president now leaves for bogue field where he and his guests will inspect a new marine corps development the short airfield for tactical support [Music] equipment similar to carrier catapults and a resting gear is used to handle marine aircraft engaged in support of the ground forces [Music] this prefabricated short airstrip can be built in very little time turboprop transports can airlift tons of supplies into and out of such airstrips [Music] and thus after participating in 24 hours of continuous fleet operations president kennedy leaves for washington and the affairs of state for the men of the navy and marine corps the exercise has been a brief but eventful interlude in a demanding schedule as they return to their jobs as they shoulder individually the heavy often lonely responsibility of preserving the peace they do so assured of the support and confidence of their president and the 180 million people he represents for it was john f kennedy who said on completing his review of the navy marine corps team as we leave the fleet today we are prouder than ever that we are citizens of the united states and supporters of these men who serve us so well [Music] section [Music] [Music] you